Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, instead just agreeing to save myself the time. “10-4.”
Chapter 20
I’m old, bitch. I’m looking death in the face. The only thing that’d scare me was if I woke up with my dick gone.
-Silas’ words to live by
Trance
“You got a minute?”
I looked up and found Jack standing next to me with a file folder in his hand.
Silas was standing behind him with a grim look on his face.
It was two days after the shooting, and the weekend. Which meant an impromptu party at Sebastian’s house. As was usual with The Dixie Wardens MC. Despite the fact that it was the middle of winter.
Fifteen minutes ago, I was surprised to see all of the men from Free show up with their wives. Now, not so much.
“Sure,” I said glancing over at Viddy who was currently whispering excitedly with her sister. “Take a seat.”
“When are you going to have one of your own?” Jack asked as he sat.
I looked down at the sleeping Saylor and grinned. “Soon, hopefully.”
Jack grinned back. “They change your life, that’s for sure. For the better though.”
Jack had a little girl that looked exactly like him and one on the way, seeing as his wife looked like she was about ready to pop.
His gaze followed mine and he grinned at me.
“What have you got for me?” I asked finally.
The smile died on his face, and his demeanor instantly changed from comfortable to tense.
He handed the folder over to me, and I took it, holding it open with one hand.
I read the top paper once, and then re-read it again.
“What the fuck?” I asked in surprise.
“That’s about what I thought, too. It surprised the shit out of me, and then some, when I found those on the mom’s computer.” Jack agreed.
‘Those’ were a compilation of emails Paul Russo’s mother, Annette Russo, wrote to her sister. In a nutshell, she admitted that Paul was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor that was slowly taking Paul’s mind from him. In it, she explained how she gently nudged Paul in Viddy’s direction, feeding him lies, causing him to do things he wouldn’t normally do.
“His fucking parents must be stupid or something. Why would she write all this down?”
“That’s translated. The original was in Cherokee. Which I happen to know.” Jack explained.
I shook my head.
“They can’t seriously think they can get away with this. What could they possibly gain by having him do what he did?” I queried.
“Sympathy. It makes them more human. When Mr. Russo runs for senator, he’ll have the ‘my son was shot by a cop’ card.” Jack shrugged.
My eyes narrowed on the translated email. “But he was trying to rape my wife!”
“He said, she said.” Jack said.
My gut was roiling at the implications of this file he’d given me. I’d thought there was more to the story, but I didn’t think that Paul was only the tip of the iceberg. I’d thought this was fucking over.
How wrong I’d been.
“Is there any way you can turn this over to the police for investigation...legally?” I asked.
He was shaking his head before I even finished.
“No, but I turned the same information over to Silas over an hour ago. He told me to wait until after we ate to give it to you.” Jack said apologetically.
That was when I noticed that Silas was nowhere to be seen when he’d been there only moments before.
Neither was Dixie. Or Loki. Or Sebastian. Or Kettle. Hell, even Grayson was gone. Grayson was the life of the fucking party. It’d take a minor miracle to get him to leave.
Hell, even the prospects were gone.
“Fuck,” I said in aggravation. “That’s why he handed me his kid. To distract me. Getting more beer my ass.”
Fucking Kettle. Fucking Silas.
They were trying to protect me.
“Well,” I said just before a slow smile started to tilt up the corners of my mouth. “This should be interesting.”
***
Silas
“You can’t come in here!” The old woman screeched in indignation.
I laughed as I continued to walk forward, pushing the old woman out of the way as I went.
I found the husband in the foyer, reading glasses in hand, as he stared at us in shock.
“Get out, now!” He boomed.
I rolled my eyes.
“Here, how about you read this since you have those glasses so handy.” I said, shoving the file folder into his chest.
He looked at me warily, but nonetheless did what I asked, scanning the packet.
His face blanched as he read, going from red, to pale, to white. “Annette,” he gasped. “What did you do?”
Annette looked at him innocently. Or as innocently as one could with blood on her hands.
“What do you mean, darling?” She asked in feigned surprise.
“You told him to rape that young girl?” He yelled, dropping the papers.
They floated to the ground, scattering all over the marble floor, disrupting the pristine condition of the house surrounding us.
“I...I...don’t know what you mean.” She stuttered.
Old man Russo’s hands went to his hair and he looked so utterly lost that I almost felt a twinge of pity for him.
Almost, but not quite.
The man was the one to marry the old bitch. He should’ve known something was off with how the son was acting.
“What,” he cleared his throat. “What do you want me to do?”
He eyed my cut warily, as well as the five men behind me.
We’d come in force in hopes that it would scare the patriarch of the family.
Lucky for us, it worked.
“Turn the old bitch in. That’s all.” I said simply.
“Morton!” The old bitch shrieked. “You can’t do that!”
Old Morton turned to his wife. “Do you think I’m fucking stupid, Annette? You don’t think that I’ve survived all these years married to you without a backup plan? I sure as fuck can turn you in. If you don’t, your precious sister and her husband will be on the streets faster than you can say ‘pre-nup.’ What did I tell you when I married you?” He hissed.
“N-not to lie.” She cried softly.
“That’s right. I told you not to lie. Honestly, Annette. I’ve put up with your shit for years. With your stupid sister and her dimwitted husband. When they fucked up and started dealing with those...vagrants, in order to stay in their posh lifestyle... I told you the only way I’d keep supporting them was if you never lied to me again. Yet, here we are. I should’ve known something was up when you insisted that your sister pushed to have that dog euthanized. Hell, I didn’t see the big deal. But now...now it makes all the more sense.”